Displaying a transparency that few filmmakers of his fame and / or caliber would even bother with, Steven Soderbergh has, for a couple of years, been keen on releasing lists of what he watched and read during the previous twelve months. If you’re at all interested in this sort of thing — and why not? what else are you even doing with your day? — the 2015 selection should be of strong interest, this being a time when he was fully enmeshed in the world of creating television.
He’s clearly observing the medium with a close eye, be it what’s on air or what his friends (specifically David Fincher and his stillborn projects) show him, and how that might relate to his apparent love of 48 Hours Mystery or approach to a comparatively light slate of cinematic assignments — specifically: it seems odd that the last time he watched Magic Mike XXL, a July release with his editing and cinematography credits, was on February 22 — is a guess for you to make.
Or perhaps there’s nothing to suss out here; either way, getting a glimpse inside his viewing and reading mind is a good bit of fun. And so, with that said:
01/01 MAGIC MIKE XXL
01/02 Signature Kill, David Levien, LEVIATHAN (’14)
01/03 AMERICAN GREED (2), Fighting For Life, S. Josephine Baker
01/05 INTERSTELLAR, AMERICAN GREED (2)
01/06 THE BIG SLEEP (’46), CITIZEN KANE, UTOPIA (2)
01/07 THE RETURN OF W. DE RIJK
01/10 UTOPIA, STARDUST MEMORIES
01/11 FORCE MAJEUR, GIRLS
01/13 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, UTOPIA (2)
01/14 DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS, UTOPIA
01/16 KINGPIN
01/17 Group f.64, Mary Street Alinder, WILD TALES, JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE
01/18 THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, CLAPPING FOR THE WRONG THING*
01/19 GIRLS, AMERICAN GREED (2), VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
01/20 MAGIC MIKE XXL
01/21 UTOPIA, 1941
01/22 UTOPIA (2)
01/23 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
01/24 THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI
01/25 GIRLS
01/26 VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
01/27 DISAPPEARED, ART AND CRAFT
01/28 THE AMERICANS
01/29 LOUIS C.K. LIVE AT THE COMEDY STORE
01/30 CHEF, DATELINE
01/31 48 HRS MYSTERY, DUEL
02/02 Begin principal photography on THE KNICK, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
02/03 DATELINE ON ID, ON THE CASE WITH PAULA ZAHN
02/04 THE AMERICANS
02/05 THE JINX (2)
02/06 DATELINE
02/07 L’PETIT QUINQUIN, 48 HRS MYSTERY: SATURDAY NIGHT EDITION
02/08 DATELINE: SUNDAY EDITION, GIRLS, BETTER CALL SAUL
02/09 VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL, BETTER CALL SAUL
02/11 THE AMERICANS
02/13 MODESTY BLAISE, DATELINE
02/14 THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, 48 HRS MYSTERY
02/17 WITNESSED: THE ASSASSINATION OF MALCOLM X, AMERICAN GREED
02/18 THE AMERICANS
02/21 48 HRS MYSTERY, DATELINE: SATURDAY EDITION
02/22 MAGIC MIKE XXL
02/23 THE JINX, BETTER CALL SAUL
02/24 GIRLS, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
02/25 THE AMERICANS
02/27 HOUSE OF CARDS (3)
02/28 HOUSE OF CARDS (2), DATELINE
03/02 BILLIONS, GIRLS, BETTER CALL SAUL
03/05 The Price of the Ticket, James Baldwin
03/06 THE AMERICANS, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
03/07 FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, 48 HRS MYSTERY
03/08 THE JINX, GIRLS, Satin Island, Tom McCarthy
03/10 VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL, BETTER CALL SAUL
03/11 THE AMERICANS
03/12 HOUSE OF CARDS (2)
03/14 AVENUES
03/15 THE JINX
03/16 BETTER CALL SAUL
03/17 VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
03/19 TRIPLE NINE, TWISTED
03/21 DATELINE, THE CONFORMIST
03/22 GIRLS, DATELINE
03/23 BETTER CALL SAUL
03/24 VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
03/25 THE AMERICANS
03/26 DATELINE
03/27 BLUE RUIN
03/28 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP, ZODIAC
03/29 GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF
03/30 BETTER CALL SAUL, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
03/31 DISAPPEARED
04/01 THE AMERICANS, THE COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF JUSTIN BIEBER
04/02 DATELINE
04/03 WELCOME TO NEW YORK, DATELINE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (’68)
04/04 MISSING*, KUHANI*, 48 HRS MYSTERY
04/05 MAD MEN
04/06 BETTER CALL SAUL
04/07 AMERICAN GREED, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL
04/08 THE AMERICANS
04/09 LOUIE, DATELINE
04/10 VIDEOSYNCRACY
04/11 48 HRS MYSTERY
04/12 SILICON VALLEY, VEEP, MAD MEN
04/14 NORTH BY NORTHWEST
04/15 THE AMERICANS, CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT
04/16 LOUIE
04/18 48 HRS MYSTERY
04/19 DATELINE, THE HAUNTING OF DIANE FARR, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP, MAD MEN
04/12 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, AMERICAN GREED
04/23 W1A
04/24 20/20: DIANE SAWYER INTERVIEWS CAITLYN JENNER
04/26 SILICON VALLEY, VEEP, MAD MEN
04/29 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, VIDEOSYNCRACY
04/30 W1A
05/02 DATELINE, MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO
05/03 THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP, MAD MEN
05/06 48 HRS ON ID
05/07 W1A
05/09 DATELINE, THE SERVANT
05/10 SILICON VALLEY, VEEP, MAD MEN
05/11 THOUGHT CRIMES: THE CASE OF THE CANNIBAL COP
05/12 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER
05/14 DATELINE, W1A
05/15 EX MACHINA, DATELINE
05/18 MAD MEN, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP
05/19 48 HRS MYSTERY, TOO MUCH JOHNSON
05/24 MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP
05/25 THE DIRTY DOZEN
05/26 THE KNICK (2)
05/27 THE KNICK (3)
05/28 48 HRS ON ID, DATELINE, THE KNICK (2)
05/29 THE KNICK, DATELINE
05/30 THE KNICK (3), 48 HRS MYSTERY
05/31 SILICON VALLEY, VEEP
06/02 48 HRS MYSTERY
06/04 My Struggle: Book Four, Karl Ove Gnausgaard, SEXY BEAST, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
06/05 Confessions of Zeno, Italo Svevo
06/06 The Getaway Car, Donald E. Westlake, THE HOT ROCK
06/07 Thieves of State, Sarah Chayes, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP
06/08 Dead Wake, Erik Larson
06/12 City of the Sun, David Levien (2)
06/13 48 HRS MYSTERY, DAYS OF THUNDER
06/14 THE SOFT SKIN, SILICON VALLEY, VEEP
06/18 DEUTCHLAND ’83, DATELINE
06/19 THE GAME
06/20 A DEADLY ADOPTION
06/21 JAWS
06/22 DISAPPEARED
06/24 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, DEUTCHLAND ‘83
06/26 DATELINE
06/27 EX MACHINA, MINORITY REPORT
07/03 ALL ABOUT EVE
07/04 When to Rob a Bank, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
07/05 SUNSET BOULEVARD, AMERICAN GREED
07/07 THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (3)
07/08 THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (8)
07/09 THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (2), ELVIS COSTELLO: MYSTERY DANCE
07/13 THE BIG CLOCK
07/17 ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
07/18 U2 at Madison Square Garden, 48 HRS MYSTERY
07/19 My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
07/20 RED OAKS (2)
07/21 RED OAKS (2), ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
07/24 RYAN’S DAUGHTER
07/25 48 HRS ON ID, KNIFE IN THE WATER
07/26 I AM CAIT, DATELINE ON ID
07/29 The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante
07/30 DATELINE: THURSDAY NIGHT MYSTERY
08/02 Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Elena Ferrante, Between Me and the World, Ta-Nehisi Coates, THE CONFORMIST
08/03 RED OAKS, WEST TEXAS INVESTORS CLUB
08/05 SHADOW OF A DOUBT
08/07 AMERICAN GREED, Imbibe, David Wondrich
08/08 What Every Body is Saying, Joe Navarro with Martin Karlins, M.D., CASTING BY
08/09 VANISHED WITH BETH HOLLOWAY, GOODNIGHT, MOMMY
08/11 IN THE LOOP
08/12 What Black People Should Do Now, Ralph Wiley, MR. ROBOT
08/15 FRENZY
08/17 GOD’S POCKET
08/18 Book of Numbers, Joshua Cohen, KILLER INSTINCT WITH CHRIS HANSEN, L’AVVENTURA
08/20 MR. ROBOT
08/21 THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM, RED OAKS
08/22 MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, 48 HRS MYSTERY
08/23 SHANGHAI EXPRESS, BLUNT TALK, THE FRENCH LIEUTENTANT’S WOMAN
08/24 HARPER, ARE YOU STILL A FAGGOT?*, DOUBLE TALK*, ONCE IN A BLUE MOON*
08/25 RED OAKS (2), ODD MAN OUT
08/27 THE FREE STATE OF JONES, DATELINE THURSDAY NIGHT MYSTERY
08/28 NARCOS (2), DATELINE
08/30 PETULIA, The Empty Chair, Bruce Wagner
08/31 ANATOMY OF A MURDER
09/01 SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, CATCH-22
09/03 MR. ROBOT
09/05 The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante, STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE, MAN ON WIRE
09/06 QUEEN OF EARTH
09/10 Why Black People Tend to Shout, Ralph Wiley, AMERICAN GREED
09/11 DATELINE
09/12 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (’78), 48 HRS MYSTERY
09/13 Purity, Jonathan Franzen
09/16 THE VERDICT
09/21 The Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASCAR, Brian Tarcy, PAPER MOON, ATLANTA, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
09/26 DATELINE
10/02 Quicksand, Steve Toltz
10/03 THE MARTIAN, DATELINE
10/06 Begin principal photography on MOSAIC (phase one)
10/10 Songs Without Words, Ann Packer
10/18 BRIDGE OF SPIES
10/24 STEVE JOBS, PULP FICTION
11/01 Submission, Michele Houellbecq
11/07 SPECTRE, 99 HOMES, THE VISIT (’15)
11/17 AMY SCHUMER: LIVE AT THE APOLLO, AMY
11/18 I Met Someone, Bruce Wagner, GETTING ON
11/20 DATELINE
11/21 THE REVENANT, TANGERINE, 48 HRS MYSTERY
11/22 Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink, Elvis Costello
11/24 BEASTS OF NO NATION
11/25 ROOM, GETTING ON
11/26 THE DAY OF THE JACKAL
11/28 JAMES BALDWIN: THE PRICE OF THE TICKET
11/29 “Old Times”, Harold Pinter, GETTING ON
11/30 TRUTH
12/01 THE BIG SHORT
12/02 SON OF SAUL
12/03 “A Confederacy of Dunces”, John Kennedy Toole/Jeffrey Hatcher
12/04 DATELINE, BY THE SEA, HUNTING HITLER
12/05 PALE FLOWER, A VERY MURRAY CHRISTMAS, IN A LONELY PLACE
12/06 Islam and the Future of Tolerance, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz, GETTING ON
12/07 U2: INNOCENCE+EXPERIEMCE, GETTING ON
12/08 THE HATEFUL EIGHT (70MM), CAROL
12/10 PROPHET’S PREY, SPOTLIGHT
12/11 ANOMALISA, HUNTING HITLER
12/12 THE LAST PANTHERS (2), 48 HRS MYSTERY, The Soul of the Marionette, John Gray, ALDO VS MCGREGOR
12/13 45 YEARS
12/16 LISTEN TO ME MARLON, CREED, THE PARALLAX VIEW
12/17 HUNTING HITLER, TRANSPARENT (5)
12/18 MAKING A MURDERER (9)
12/19 A LIFE OF OHARU, The Silence of Animals, John Gray, MAKING A MURDERER
12/20 THE HATEFUL EIGHT (standard def DVD)
12/22 TRANSPARENT (5), ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
12/23 OUR MAN IN HAVANA
12/24 BLADE RUNNER (“the final cut”), THE RACK PACK
12/25 DOUBLE INDEMNITY, SCROOGE (’70), WONDER BOYS
12/26 THE INHERITANCE (’62), MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, FINDERS KEEPERS (’15)
12/27 Money: An Unauthorized Biography, Felix Martin, EXPERIMENTER
12/28 HOUSE OF GAMES
12/29 AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, The Mark and the Void, Paul Murray
12/30 AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (2)
12/31 “The Mousetrap”, Agatha Christie, DEAD OF NIGHT (’45)
VINYL
SEVEN STEPS TO HEAVEN Miles Davis
SKETCHES OF SPAIN Miles Davis
BACK TO BLACK Amy Winehouse
LET’S STAY TOGETHER Al Green
GAUCHO Steely Dan
ARMED FORCES Elvis Costello
LEISURE Blur
TAKING LIBERTIES Elvis Costello
IMPERIAL BEDROOM Elvis Costello
CHEMICAL CHORDS Stereolab
AJA Steely Dan
ILLMATIC Nas
PHYSICAL GRAFFITI Led Zeppelin
PEOPLE, HELL, AND ANGELS Jimi Hendrix
TRUST Elvis Costello
ARMED FORCES Elvis Costello